RECIPE :: Spicy potato roast

(Serves 2-4 people)

I was bored out of my mind in a lecture on CRC cards at university, so to amuse myself I started making a recipe for the night’s meal using roast potatoes as a layer in a bake of some kind. It turned out very well and allowed me to blank out 30 minutes of the tedious lecture.

Ingredients
1tsp of cumin seeds,
2tsp of paprika,
1tsp of salt,
2 chilli peppers (thinly sliced without seeds),
6tbsp of olive oil,
500g of potatoes,
2tbsp of olive oil,
2 medium onions (thinly chopped),
1 green pepper (thinly sliced),
2 cloves of crushed garlic,
100g of mushrooms (thinly sliced),
2 medium carrots (grated),
1 tin of tomatoes,
3tbsp of gram flour and
1tbsp of water.

Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6 / 200C / 400F.
2) Dry fry and crush the cumin seeds.
3) Combine 1tsp of the paprika, salt, one chilli pepper and olive oil with the cumin seeds.
4) Cut the potatoes into 3mm thick slices (a mandolin may help) and coat with the spicy oil. Place to one side.
5) Fry the onions with the olive oil over a medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, garlic, 1tsp of paprika and one of the chillies to the onions and fry for a further 5 minutes.
6) Mix the fried vegetables with the carrots and tomatoes.
7) Mix the gram flour and water together and then mix into the vegetables.
8) Line the bottom and sides of a 2lb loaf tin with the potatoes. Fill the gap with the spicy vegetables and cover with the remaining potatoes. Bake for 70-80 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. If the top starts too brown to much cover loosely with foil.
9) Allow too stand for 5 minutes then turn the tin upside down and serve.